How I Live Now
by kiwifruitt
Summary: He was entrusted to end a boy's life. The boy was a helpless teenager, trapped in a wheelchair, determined to do something in his short life. Something other than lying in his sterile white bed, staring at the ceiling above him and counting his breaths. And he was sure that a certain assassin was the one that could let that happen.


**A/N: Hellooo! So... this on'e going to be pretty long, I think, and I'm just hoping I'll finish it before school starts again :)**

**It's kind of a superpower AU, where some selected people are born with powers. You'll see as you read on~**

**Tbh I'm still getting the grasp of this so I hope it actually makes sense... anyway, enjoy!**

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><p>Wide emerald eyes stared unwavering, even as the muzzle of the black revolver was pressed hard into his temple. The boy gazed into the assassin's stormy orbs, not threatening, but full of determination as though stubbornly fighting to see as much of this world as he could, even in the very end.<p>

But all Levi could do was stare back into the mesmerizing depths, wondering why his finger refused to pull the trigger – why he couldn't bear for those green gems to be forever asleep in the depth of his skull.

And how strange it was that after the hundreds of deaths caused by Levi's own two hands- he couldn't kill this one single boy that was helplessly bound in a wheelchair.

"You're not going to shoot me?" The boy questioned as he noticed the gun lowering from his head to rest at the assassin's side.

Levi didn't say anything. His finger slid repeatedly over the smooth curve of the trigger, relishing the coolness of the metal.

What should he do?

He tore his gaze away from the entrancing green and turned on his heel, walking soundlessly back to the open window and stepping onto the edge. Looking down, he skimmed his eyes over the top of high-risers and looked up at the black sky, the yellow moon hidden behind thick, rolling clouds. The cool breeze blew into the small room warned rain.

"Wait." The boy's voice reached Levi's ears, but he didn't look around. "Who are you? What's your name?"

Levi didn't answer. He heard the soft sounds of the wheelchair rolling towards him.

"Is your name Levi?"

Levi looked down at the gun he still held in his hand, and slid it back into his belt. "How do you know?" He asked quietly – the first words he had spoken in a while.

"I don't know. I can just see."

There was a moment of silence where the only sounds heard were the distant hysterical screams of someone in another room and the quiet creaks of the window as it moved in the breeze. Levi took out a photo from his pocket and held it in one hand; the dim light of the hospital room just enough for him to see it properly. It flapped a little in the breeze, but he could make out a laughing boy, his eyes cracked open just enough to display the brilliant green orbs underneath.

Turning the photo over, the name 'Eren Jaeger' was scribbled in the Reiss's writing on the back.

Levi took one last glance over his shoulder, burning the image of Eren into his mind, before leaping off the window ledge and landing silently on the roof of a nearby apartment. He melted into the darkness; his silver blue eyes the only thing visible.

Eren didn't stop him, but watched the black sky for a while afterwards. He watched as the first drops of rain fell, but couldn't bring himself to close the window.

"See you, Levi." He whispered, but his soft voice was drowned behind the noise of the cascading rain.

He never closed the window again.

•≈•

"What do you mean you couldn't kill him?" Reiss demanded as Levi stood silent. "This is the first time you've ever failed. Didn't I tell you not to look into his eyes? His eyes have powers, Levi, they can control your mind-"

"He didn't fucking control my mind." Levi retorted quietly, pushing the annoying raven strands out of his eyes so the water would stop dripping onto his face. "Can't we forget about him?"

"No, definitely not." Reiss said, stroking his dark beard. "There are three remaining, and they are the most powerful." He let out a forced chuckled then, his eyes turning into slits. "Then it'll just be the guards left for me to slaughter… I'm trusting in you, Levi – kill that boy. His power is a threat."

_Only a threat to _you_, you weakass 'King'. _The smaller man thought as he cast his eyes down to the floor where a puddle of rainwater had formed around him.

"I'll give you three days, Levi." Reiss stated, turning away. "Get the job done."

Levi took off his black fingerless gloves and stared at his the white palm of his hands, wondering how much more blood must be stained on them.

•≈•

Only a month.

Eren's eyes fluttered open to the white ceiling above him. Always a plain, white ceiling. He hated that ceiling, greeting him every time he managed to open his eyes. He hated that everything in this room was white – the bed, the lights, and now even himself – his once sun-kissed skin was pale, blending in with the colours of the room.

But it would only be a month more of this.

In a month, his heart will no longer beat. The useless treatments will be over; the medicine will stop being wasted.

He wanted to think that it had been a good life, but it wasn't. It never was.

Was he fine that the curtains were going to close when nothing had ever played on stage?

He closed his eyes.

_Yes._

It wasn't like a frail, crippled boy could ever do anything in life. Right? He was fine with it. He thought he'd accepted that a long time ago.

Then why was he crying?

Suddenly, he heard a soft clatter and opened his eyes to see a face peering down at him.

"Holy _fuck_." The brunette gasped as he quickly sat up, clutching at his heart that threatened to stop. He looked at the man – his face impassive as before, his sharp eyes flashing silver in the moonlight.

"Oh, it's you." Eren acknowledged, trying to get his breaths back in order while quickly wiping his tears away. "Well, you came back quickly."

The black clad man casually sat down on the edge of the bed, looking down at his hands. "Stop controlling my mind." He said quietly, flexing his fingers before looking at the boy. Eren cocked his head, confused.

"I'm not."

"Then why-" In the blink of an eye Levi had Eren pressed hard against the wall, a knife digging into the soft flesh of his neck. "Can't I fucking kill you?"

"Uh," The boy replied, "I don't know?"

The raven glared hard at the boy for a lingering moment before he released his hold and sighed, watching Eren rub his neck with a grimace.

The room fell quiet; the only sounds heard were the creaking of the window and the beating of their hearts.

"Why do you want to kill me?"

"I just- I was ordered to." Levi admitted, going back to staring at his hands. "I've killed nearly a thousand before you-"

"Don't worry." Eren waved him off casually. "I've killed a lot too."

Levi glanced at him sideways. "Oh? How many?"

"Um, about three?"

Levi's eyes widened momentarily before a throaty chuckle filled the room. Eren smiled. So he _can_ laugh.

"Hey, what's so funny?" The boy asked with false hurt, nudging him with a foot. Even that tiny movement had Eren grimacing at the pain that shot up through his body, and he noted in his mind to never do that again.

"Nothing," The man cleared his throat and stood up. Eren reached out and caught his arm as he walked back over to the open window, ignoring Levi's frown as he flicked the hand away in disgust.

"Levi, can you-" Eren gazed into the man's cold blue eyes, "can you take me with you?"

The raven paused for a moment, surprised. "You want to die?"

"I've been dead all my life, Levi." Eren replied, and Levi felt himself unable to look away from the fierceness burning inside those emerald orbs. "I want to _live_."

For a moment, the two stared at the other – looked into the depth of each pair of eyes, searched deep and far to see that they had something in common.

They were both broken.

"Not bad." Levi's lips curled upwards before he leapt through the window once again. The sky wasn't as dark as when he came in – there were rays of light illuminating the dark sky.

Levi caught himself smiling for the first time in a long, long while.


End file.
